Listen to what people are saying about the 17th President of Albion College.
“Mathew is the perfect leader for Albion at this moment. Mathew is a changemaker. He is somebody with big ideas; really a visionary who is a motivator of people.”
Dr. Maud Mandel
President
Williams College
“He is a listener first. The value-added that he brings is the ability to both synthesize and integrate multiple perspectives, and honesty in doing so.”
Dr. Paul LeMahieu
Senior Vice President, Programs
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
“What kind of person is Mathew? Powerful, but in a quiet way. I think of someone who is absorbed in the art of strategy, very concerned about the impact of his work. And to me that says a lot about one’s character.”
Dr. Timothy Eatman
Inaugural Dean
Honors Living-Learning Community
Rutgers University
“He’s a remarkably good listener; not a micromanager. He’s somebody who has identified fantastic people… and brought them along as young professionals, and you see them flourish. When he builds a team, they stay in place.”
Robert Hacket
President
Corella and Bertram F. Bonner Foundation
“He is someone I could trust to help me build new things, and support the excellence of existing things.”
Dr. Karen Sibley
Vice President of Strategic Initiatives
Brown University
“Mathew is a leader who makes things happen. He is able to facilitate profound change that matters in the lives and work of real people.”
Dr. Tania Mitchell
Associate Professor of Higher Education and McKnight Presidential Fellow
University of Minnesota
“He’s someone who I think is well suited to be president of Albion, well suited to lead. He is someone who is bold, he is someone who is tenacious, and he’s certainly passionate in his purpose.”
Andrew Petter
President and Vice-Chancellor
Simon Fraser University, Canada
“He’s deeply passionate about the ability of higher education to make a difference in the world and its communities.”
Andrew Vann
Vice-Chancellor and President
Charles Sturt University, Australia
“He’s not the scholar on the hill. He’s not the detached academic. In some ways, that kid on the farm always comes out, because he rolls up his sleeves, joins hands with people, and says, ‘How can we get this done?'”
Dr. Don Levy
Director
Siena College Research Institute
“He’s a person whose integrity I trust as much as I trust anybody.”
Paul Stec
Vice President, Finance and Administration
Siena College
“Mathew is a bold, visionary leader with big ideas.… Dr. O’Neill has been a tremendous resource and support for our students.”
Georgina Manok
Assistant Director, Research and Assessment
Swearer Center, Brown University
“His leadership as I have witnessed it champions equity and supports agency for social change, providing opportunities for apprenticeship and building a wider public culture and democracy.”
Dr. John Saltmarsh
Professor of Higher Education
University of Massachusetts Boston
“Mathew is the ultimate dreamer and go-getter. What Mathew really excels at is bringing folks together.”
April Backus
Associate Director
Siena College Research Institute
“He empathizes, he listens and he coaches. I think it’s a really rare combination to find somebody that is a scholar but then also an entrepreneur.”
George Luc
Co-Founder and CEO
GivePulse
“We’ve had a number of conversations about his values and his vision for liberal arts education. And from those conversations, I know that he is absolutely committed… to diversity, to the City of Albion, Michigan, and to academic excellence.”
Michael Harrington, ’85
Trustee and Search Committee Chair
“Dr. Johnson respects data. He has a clear joy for challenges… and he has the ability to build teams.”
Joey Edwards Miller, ’75
Trustee and Search Committee Vice Chair
“Dr. Johnson is an innovative scholar. He is so eager to meet students where they are and prepare them for the next level.”
Mae Ola Dunklin
Trustee
“He’s a remarkably good listener and he’s a great caretaker.… He likes to make contacts, he likes to make progress, and he’s determined to move down that route and make everyone proud.”
Douglas Goering
Trustee and Professor Emeritus of Art and Art History
“He has articulated a vision for partnering with business and industry and the community to create innovative new programs that will showcase our students’ abilities to be problem solvers.”
Jeffrey Ott, ’86
Trustee
“He presented a vision for an Albion future that built on [our] values and built on our history, a shared vision that would continue in the innovative work we have done over the last few years.”
Dr. Trisha Franzen
Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies
“I was amazed at his ability to think creatively, to throw out ideas, to be innovative, and that energy that he brought in the room allowed me to begin to dream.”
Keena Williams, ’09
Associate Dean & President’s Special Advisor for Global Diversity
“Dr. Johnson has the ability to look at Albion and identify things that can be done immediately to help us today… He has the vision to build on [our] foundation to make us a truly inspiring place to be.”
Dr. Heather Betz
Chair and Associate Professor of Kinesiology
“I have found in my conversations with Dr. Johnson that he has a strong commitment to building an inclusive campus. And he sees inclusion not as a word, but as a practice.”
Dr. Lynn Verduzco-Baker
Associate Professor of Sociology
“I think that we got the perfect leader to help us develop an even deeper relationship with our town and our region, and I’m very excited to see what happens next.”
Dr. Ronney Mourad
Professor of Religious Studies